Buying dolls on credit?

When I order dolls, I don't want to wait. I've seen it, I like it, I want it now. I don't have Paypal and don't care for ordering online, so I mainly use my credit card and the telephone. I order over the phone for stores based in the US (that advertise the dolls as being IN STOCK) and pay off the doll at my next bill. It's a system that works well because I know how much money I have, and I only buy when I can pay for it. My thirst for instant gratification makes me go "I want it, but it's not in stock. I'll wait, but it better come in soon."

However, now that I'm in Japan and can physically visit stores to go "You are mine, we are going home today," I still use my credit card for dolls. Buying dolls and for dolls can be a whole lot of money to carry, especially since I want to visit other places, and I jcan ust pay everything off at the next bill as normal. Also, because I am now buying stuff for other people, I have another record of who owes me what, and I can easily adjust yen and dollar amounts this way.

Either way, if I'm short for money, that doll or doll stuff is not coming home with me. I will wait for another day, and if it's sold by then, it's sold. This belief is helped a whole lot by being picky combined with "I can do that."

 

I'm with you here. I think it's healthy to save money with no specific purpose in mind, so that, when you really need it, you have money.
Buying on credit makes me a little nervous, 'cause after a while you can't completely survey how much money you have actually spent. (is that even good english??) And I believe with a credit-card you will spend more than you would if you'd save up.

Even for limiteds you can save up. You don't know when that specific limited is re-released, that's true, but the money on your savingsaccount won't walk away. I don't understand how that money is impractical. There isn't a limit of how much money you can put on your bank-account and you gain interest from it! Perhaps it's because I'm greedy (hey.. I'm Dutch, what can I say), but I don't see a downside.

This is my reason why I save. Besides, it feels good to finally get the doll you wanted after months of saving!

 

I tend to pay for my dolls, then buy accessories with credit. My whole thing is that if I can't pay for it within a month I don't want to credit it. For example, I bought my Weylin with money I had saved, but I bought his wig and shoes on credit as I knew I could pay them off quickly. It builds credit, which is a good thing in the long run, and it doesn't hurt if I put thirty bucks on my card then pay it off a week or two later. It works for me, but thats just me. I've credited big things before and regretted it. Right now I'm still paying off a nice camcorder that I credited and I hate having to do it. I don't even touch that card anymore. Unfortunately as I am a film student and my camera died I needed a new one. Blah.

 

I dont like using credit for doll stuff. Instead I prefer layaway.... it operates in the same capacity, enabling you to pay what you have, while keeping things in the black, for the most part. Risking a credit score over dolls isn't smart. I'd only use credit for a big, complete doll purchase if I KNEW beyond a shadow of a doubt that that money was coming back to me PDQ.

But layway is tough because A) not all companies use it, B) you have to risk the possibility of looking like a flake when there are uncontrollable money circumstances to deal with, and C) most of your dolls end up coming from the secondary market at often higher prices.

Theres pros and cons everywhere I guess!

 

I think some people like the protection of credit card. You can get the charge back if something goes wrong with the transaction, which is great security for you, also a lot of companies only accepted credit cards before Paypal so you would have to go that route anyway.

I bought one doll on CC and I was able to pay that in two paydays from the purchase date. I wasn't struggling to pay and it made sense at the time. I think that if you saved up 100% of what you needed for doll+shipping+customs fees and then put the doll on your CC, that's not so bad. You can pay that off immediately because you have the money right there...but you also have the security and flexibility of using your credit card.

 

First of all, in the US anyway, the "repo man" doesn't want your doll back. It's not perceived to be like a car or a house that has resale value. The CC company would want actual MONEY, not your doll, and would file something against you to get money back.

Second of all, in the US at least, when you're buying from a mail order company and especially from a foreign company, using the credit card is the safest way to pay and makes it easiest to get a refund (including refund via Paypal) should something go haywire and your dolly get lost in the mail, or the seller turn out to be dishonest, etc. It really does not make sense to pay a big wad of cash through Paypal to a foreign company unless it is somebody you really trust to follow through and deliver your stuff. This has become even more of a concern due to the number of new doll companies that seem to be popping up - they don't have much of a track record so it's a bit of a risk to buy from them when they're new. Using the credit card provides you with much more protection than sending cash.

Finally, as has been stated on many, many threads, using credit is a matter of personal comfort. Some adults are comfortable with it, some are not, some people plan to pay it off right away, and some people overspend. If you're not comfortable with it, don't use it, but don't expect everybody else to feel the way you do. Like I said, once you get the doll in hand, then the company or the bank isn't going to come and grab your doll back in any event.

Edited to add, that "fully earned it" stuff making the doll more "valuable" doesn't even make sense in my mind. That sounds like something a parent would tell a kid to justify making him mow lawns all summer to earn a new basketball or something. I'm not a kid, I'm an adult. I go to work every day for years, I figure whatever I get is well earned regardless of whether i pay cash or slap down a card. And, it has nothing to do with "instant gratification" and everything to do with planning purchases to get things I want during the window they are available, with the best buyer protection for me.

 

I definitely overspent when I first got into the hobby and ordered Blisdon in May. Although Blisdon was actually paid for with my own money, all of his many clothes and accessories I went crazy buying were not, and neither was the Soom Sard I bought after him, or the Volks Rose I put on layaway after that! However, the money I have spent on them on credit is almost completely paid off now, and I have been good lately. I am kindof planning two dolls at once at the moment (trying to get ahold of a Yugiri head, and wanting to order a Volks Mark), but I am holding off on them until I can get my credit paid down. If that Yugiri head pops up then I will buy it, but the body for her and the Mark are things I can get anytime and they will have to wait.

I think everyone goes a little crazy when they first get into this hobby. It takes awhile to realize what your taste in dolls is, and also what you like to dress them in so you don't buy a million outfits you will never use. I think it is easy to spend lots of money on stuff until you realize what your tastes are in the hobby. I think once you get into the swing of things in this hobby (in other words, realizing that expensive limiteds come out all the time with absolutely NO warning XD), you can manage your money better. I don't look down on people who order dolls on credit and pay it back in a month or two, I'm sure I will probably do the same thing in the future. I just want to keep it at a point where I can pay it off in that same month, not something where it takes a few months to pay for it.

 

THIS, exactly!

 

What I do is I put money in my Paypal account every week and when I have enough saved for my doll, I order it then. Sometimes it takes a while, but it is fun when it gets closer to the time. I tend to get into trouble with the credit cards.

 

Credit cards and debt is discussed really well in this thread:
http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222301

I usually save up for my dolls. I have however bought one doll (my Delphine who is yet to arrive) on my credit card. That decision however was based on the current credit crunch. With the exchange rate dropping everyday i had to pay her off as soon as possible to prevent her from becomming to expensive. (She started at £420, she was £480 when i finally paid her off, now she's over £520 and rising). That is the only reason i've ever used a credit card and that debt will be paid off next month aswell.

Really. You shouldn't buy a doll with a credit card unless you KNOW you have the funds comming in to pay the card off.

 

I don't see anything wrong buying a doll on credit as long as you're able to pay it back afterward. If you can't pay in full at the end of the month, you'll pay interest, and as long as you're cool with it, then there's really no problem.

Making expensive dolly purchases on credit only becomes a problem when your commitments to other things can't be made because you're too busy trying to pay off your card. If you can't pay for your family, pets, tuition, living expenses, etc...cause you bought a doll, it's a problem.

I've set a rule up for myself. If I can't pay debts off in a certain amount of time, then I don't bother buying it. According to a credit specialist whose blog I read daily and I love her advice on all things that are financial, three years is the maximum you should ever be in debt at one time. This goes for everything, not just dolls. I myself have been in a credit crunch once, and once was enough.

 

As a college student I don't think I would ever buy a doll on credit, unless it was one that was offered for an utterly limited amount of time. Still, I would feel terribly guilty about it and end up eating bread and water until I'd paid him/her off.

However, I think that I probably am also influenced by the fact that money is very hard to come by for me... so even justifying buying a doll in the FIRST place is/was difficult. I knew it was what I wanted, but I also know how long $500 and up could FEED me for... so. @_@;

 

I tend to agree with this- not earning something yourself doesn't mean you don't appreciate it. Some of my most valued posessions have been gifts from others, and I guess you could say I did NOTHING to earn them, other than knowing the people who gave them to me and perhaps being alive for another year.

While being in debt over a doll might make you feel anxious about that doll or create a bit of a negative association, I'd say most people will appreciate things for reasons aside from how it was paid for. Plus most people who buy dolls on credit WILL fully pay for them- it's not like the money to pay off the card comes from nowhere- it comes from the same place that it would have if they'd saved up to buy the doll first (whether it's wages from working a job, saved allowance, birthday/holiday gift money, or whatever).

While some people may feel more rewarded if they've been "good" and saved up for their doll, others may feel just as happy to be able to have their doll sooner and build a credit rating as they pay it off, or to receive their doll as a gift from a loved one. *shrug*

 

I bought my doll with a credit card, not because I didn't have the money (I did), but because my card offers more security than just using a bank account through paypal. If someone had managed to get my account information by hacking the system, or if there was some problem with the transaction (double charging, etc.), then my credit company would have helped me fix the problem. With my bank, I wouldn't have had the same protections.

I think it's just as possible to appreciate your doll buying it on credit as it is to pay for it up front in cash.

 

THIS. All of it. Thank you for putting out the facts, without all of the myths/legends/wives tales about credit cards.

There is no intrinsic difference using cash versus card in regards to emotional points (ala the "fully earned it" bit,) unless you chose to assign emotional stock in the difference. If you do, that's your business. I just find it a little unnecessary.

 

just on a personal note, because of my job i always have a fair amount of cash on me. (i'm a stripper! wheee! just kidding.) but anyways i hear some people say that when they buy things with credit cards it's easier to overspend because the money doesn't seem real. but for me, it's exactly the opposite. my paycheck goes in the bank and that's for rent and other bills, but that cash...woo, i have to watch because that can just fly out of my pocket!

 

I definately agree. I blow through cash MUCH faster than credit. :P Which is why I tend not to carry a lot (well, here in Japan I have to carry more than I would in the US, but that is because less places in Japan accept card.)

I got my first regular credit card at 19, and I now have four regular cards, and three store cards. I have always been on time on my payments, always pay decent amounts towards each card in use (of those 7 cards, I have balances on 2.) Sure, according to my accounts I am currently ::cough:: in the hole, but I have a nice paying job and I am getting mad amounts of points on my cards.

 

Well said, and I agree 100%. I think there is something great about being able to buy now and pay later, but it's also a good thing to have the money saved up and buy the doll outright with nothing to pay back at all.

Moderation is really the key here, as it is with most things in life.

 

Ditto. Ditto. The average credit card rate across all consumer credit card types and credit histories is 13.86%, according to Credit Monitor today.

So let's do a little math.

Luts Moon Special, two faceups: $680
Macchiato set for boy: $120
Mighty Ankle for boy (brown): $37
DW-206 For Delf (D.Natural Black) $25
18MM S-MIDNIGHT: $28

That's an average fullset order, coming to a whopping $890 before shipping.
Shipping is $65

So we're putting $955 on our credit card at 13.86% interest for 1 year.

Monthly Payment: $85.68
This loan will really cost you: $1028.21

That doesn't count any other dolls that may come along the way and join the first, or any cases where you end up being unable to pay back the debt for that month. Cars need repaired, schoolbooks go up in cost every year, and grim economic forecasts end jobs without warning. Life happens while you're adding up debts.

Here. Go scare yourself and see why I use layaway, or I save up first.